Once Upon A Time,
Was a white bird that lived in a golden cage.
It had everything it ever wanted:
Food, water, and joy.
But was it really joy? It never knew.
Until one day, a blue canary flew by its window sill,
And watched the bird and its cage.
“What are you doing out there?” The white bird asked.
“And what are you doing in there?” The blue bird retorted.
“I have everything I want in here. Why would I be anywhere else?”
The white bird moved its wings proudly.
“But do you have freedom?” The blue bird questioned.
“Do you like it simply because it is the illusion they gave you?
That you are happy and will be, only if you stay here?”
That had the white bird thinking for the first time.
Yes, she had food, water, and joy.
But was it really…joy? It never knew.
“Being happy is doing the things you were meant to do,”
The blue bird chirped.
“It is to let go of your wings. Your heart.
Now tell me, white bird, are you really happy?”
Surrounded by gold. And yet, all the white bird saw was…
Dust. A cage. A trap.
The right question came late. But not too late.
“I never saw it that way,” the white bird cried.
“But, will I be happy out there?”
The blue bird paused and then sang.
“You may, or may not, be happy
But at least, it will be your choice.”
Choice? The white bird had never heard of it.
All its food? Chosen by its master.
Water? Given by its master.
Joy? Only obtained through its master.
And that was how an illusion was broken.
“Will you set me free?” the white bird asked.
“No.” The blue bird chirped.
“Only you have the power to set yourself free.”
And so, the white bird tried every day.
It no longer enjoyed what was offered to it,
In imprisonment.
But yearned for what it could see,
while it flapped its wings.
One day, it quietly opened the lock of its cage,
and flew away into the distance.
For the first time, it saw what joy really was.
The feeling that is obtained by fulfilling yourself,
not others’ expectations of you.
